Catholic Online interviews Fr. Dwight Longenecker on his new book: Slubgrip Instructs

Lent is the time when we strap on our armor and set out to battle the devil, and I think we'd all be much more happy warriors during Lent if the battle could be both somber and somewhat lighthearted. The devil hates to be laughed at and The Gargoyle Code and Slubgrip Instructs are perfect ways to take the spiritual battle seriously-spotting Satan's subterfuges and tricks and making light of him. He's a proud Spirit and doesn't like being laughed at. - Fr. Dwight Longenecker

GREENVILLE,SC (Catholic Online) - ( From Deacon Keith Fournier: I recently interviewed one of the great writers and Catholic converts of our age, Fr. Dwight Longenecker, on behalf of Catholic Online. He is a well known Christian leader, priest, author, teacher, preacher, commentator and blogger. I personally believe he is one of the great Christian writers of our age. His book, Gargoyle Code, is already becoming a classic read for Lent.

Father Longenecker's latest contribution is a sequel to the Gargoyle Code, and it is out just in time for Lent! It is entitled Sugrip Instructs.  Ash Wednesday is February 18, so it is time - right now - to get ready for Lent! This book will help you do just that. Buy it, read it, buy it for others, and give it away as gifts!)

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CO: Thanks for taking a few moments to talk with us Fr Longenecker. What or who is a "Slubgrip"

FDL: Slubgrip is the name of a demon who first appeared in my Lent book The Gargoyle Code. That book was inspired by C.S.Lewis' Screwtape Letters  and was the correspondence between a senior devil and his trainee. I took the idea, updated it and put it into a Catholic setting.

CO: Who and where is Slubgrip Instructing?

FDL: At the end of The Gargoyle Code Slubgrip was demoted and devoured in the Father's Banqueting House below. Now he has been reconstituted and been appointed to teach Popular Culture 101 in Bowelbages University in hell. He's not real happy there because Bowelbages is for the trainee demons who are "intellectually challenged."

CO: That sounds very entertaining. Why is he teaching Popular Culture 101?

FDL: When I deliver parish missions I give a talk on the twelve "ism's" that undermine our culture and threaten our Catholic faith. These are twelve secular ideologies that remain below the radar, but which are deeply opposed to Catholicism. I was looking for an attractive and entertaining way to expose these ideologies and I had the idea that if Slubgrip were teaching them readers would think through some philosophy while following an entertaining story.

CO: So there is a story line as well as a demon teaching philosophy?

FDL: While he's bullying and lecturing his students Slubgrip is also conspiring with his fiendish friend Knobswart to overthrow the university administration and take charge himself. He's not nice, this Slubgrip.

CO: Why have you released the book for Lent?

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FDL: Lent is the time when we strap on our armor and set out to battle the devil, and I think we'd all be much more happy warriors during Lent if the battle could be both somber and somewhat lighthearted. The devil hates to be laughed at and The Gargoyle Code and Slubgrip Instructs are perfect ways to take the spiritual battle seriously-spotting Satan's subterfuges and tricks and making light of him. He's a proud Spirit and doesn't like being laughed at.

CO: Who is your target audience for Slubgrip Instructs?

FDL: The book is not just for Catholics. Although I've written it from a Catholic point of view it is also accessible to Christians of other traditions.

I'm especially keen that the book be read by college students because, if they are in a secular college setting it is very likely that they are coming under attack by those who hold to the ideologies that Slubgrip is teaching.  Slubgrip Instructs is therefore a perfect gift for a college or high school student who is examining and maybe having difficulties with their faith.

CO: Fr Longenecker, you are so prolific-writing for so many website, magazines and your own blog. Where do you find the time and where do your ideas come from?

FDL: I've been writing for about twenty years now, so I guess it's like anything else-if you do it long enough it becomes easy. I do have lots of ideas because I'm always thinking things through. Good ideas come by making connections between things that are otherwise not connected. Maybe it's a gift. If so, I can't take either the blame or the credit!

CO: What did you enjoy most about writing Slubgrip Instructs?

FDL: The book is sub titled Fifty Days with the Devil because Slubgrip's lectures on Popular Culture are spread out over the days of Lent beginning with Shrove Tuesday and ending with Easter Monday. I wanted to get some variety and keep interest, so on the weekends Slubgrip hands the students over to a team of zany, sinister and ecCOntric guest lecturers. I had fun coming up with their names and taking their different voices.

CO: Where is the best place for our readers to get copies of The Gargoyle Code and its sequel Slubgrip Instructs?

FDL: The books are available through amazon.com and they are also available there for Kindle e-readers. However, the books are a bit less expensive if purchased through my website: dwightlongenecker.com. There is also the facility that way for readers to send me a note and ask for a signed copy.

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CO: Thanks for being with us Father.

FDL: Thanks for the opportunity! Have a Holy Lent!

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